I am in charge of getting people places, and doing things to make life easier for the family. I chose the job and accept the responsibility. But it means that I spend a good bit of time listening to the radio. I confess, I am a news junkie and I also listen to a lot of flavors of “talk” radio. I try to think why some of these media mavens piss me off when the words they spout all seem so “reasonable” and “helpful”.

While doing my mile of walking to Mecca, I realized why they irritate and vex my rotund little soul. Many Muslims Bashers do an artful job of creating an attack on Islam while “defending” the “poor oppressed Muslim women.”

Their malignant eloquence takes events that occurred during the early days of Islam and distorts them more effectively than a circus mirror does in making a trim healthy person look obscenely fat. They take sensible rules and regulations outlined in the Quran and Hadith and claim that they are the “oppressive” and “barbaric” practices of a backward religion. (Death for Rapists and Cutting off hands for Theft. And how IS Bernie Madoff doing in prison these days?…)

Islamophobes use current events that have their basis in politics and culture and “prove” that Islam is the root cause of most of this world’s evil, all of the acts of terrorism and probably dandruff and bad breath.

I was talking to the host of a nationally syndicated talk show and he thanked me for the Quran I had given him several years ago. While we still disagreed on many issues, Rusty had read his Quran, and was familiar enough with it realize that Islam does NOT advocate terrorism.

But then he pointed out that since our earlier association, he had met with and talked to members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade. In dialogue with them, he realized that the so-called “Islam” that these people practiced wasn’t the nearly the same as what most Muslims follow. When he tried to question them about some of the discrepancies he had found between their ideology and the Quran, they got very upset and abusive. He told me that if I ever went over to a Muslim country like that, I would probably be killed. I told him, “Yeah, I know. That is because I know and practice Islam, not some tribal or political agenda that seeks land and power.” Actually, even THAT little snotty remark would set them off…

There is a difference in Islam and Culture and the ignorant attackers of knowledgeable and practicing Muslims are not following their own religion when they seek to “punish” us for the writings and speeches that focus attention on discrepancies between what is and ISN’T Islam.

Most Islamophobes just use the media and internet forums to get their vitriol out into the public blogosphere while tokenly addressing the real problem. Muslim Women ARE being persecuted by people who probably never even read the Quran but heard somebody else or an Incompetent “Imam” tell them that these women are “Bad” or “Acting Against Islam!” And because many Muslim Women have never been taught that it is their right AND RESPONSIBILITY to know the religion, they don’t know enough to challenge the stupidity.

Of course the Muslim Bashers won’t recognize the oppression that they practice on Muslim women when they demand laws be passed that prohibit the wearing of headscarves. Or they insist that Muslim women going through airport security must be GROPED because they might be carrying a bomb under there. I told you before, double standard…

But when all is said and done, a Muslim that reads the Quran and Hadith KNOWS that Islam is, and always has been the BEST religion for All women, of All times. And a Muslim that knows this will work towards truly ending the real oppression of All women.

This is because Islam did not “grant” rights to women – it merely confirmed the ones that had been hers all along. Rights to own and control her own property, be able to speak out against discrimination and abuse, decide who she wanted to marry or even IF she wanted to marry, and most importantly, the right to an education that was as good as if not better than the one afforded to her “brothers.” Islam is specific when pointing out that men AND women are responsible for their own actions. And that EACH has a place and a function in a healthy society. The word “ISLAM” means submission to the will of God. It doesn’t discriminate between male and female. And Muslim is a PERSON who submits to the will of God. Put THAT in your pipe and smoke it.

Less than 100 years ago, women in the US didn’t have the above mentioned rights. It took a lot of EDUCATED women to realize how oppressed they were before they started working towards a change. Now it is time to educate MUSLIM women so that they can demand the rights outlined in the Quran and Hadith 1400 years ago.

Europe came out of the “Dark Ages” because of the Renaissance, I think it is time for Islam to have a Renaissance.

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About walkingtomecca

I am responsible for MY opinions and MY choices. If you think I am wrong, respond to my blog in an intelligent way and I might get back to you. Or viciously attack your stupidity. It is a toss up. I spend the little time that I have to write on this blog, but I would rather be looking at stamps, enjoying the world, but not wasting my time on people telling me how wrong I am. Thank you, I have children to do that to me.